Gas leak forces Lilac Mall evacuation

ROCHESTER — A gas leak forced the Lilac Mall to be evacuated for almost an hour Tuesday.

According to Fire Capt. Steve Johnson, the gas leak came from two air handling units on the roof, above the main corridor just outside of Kmart and Papa Gino’s Pizzeria.

The evacuation took place around noon on Tuesday, after a customer reported smelling gas, said Ellen Paquette, manager of the Lilac Mall. The report of the smell was made to Lilac Mall management, which then notified the Fire Department.

Fire officials called for evacuation as soon as they got to the scene and started smelling gas, said Johnson.

Kmart assistant manager Jinja Rachkoskie estimated that 200 customers at the mall, about 70 to 80 of whom were at Kmart, were evacuated in a quick and orderly fashion.

“We were pretty busy,” said Rachkoskie, who said most of the customers had driven from the mall after the evacuation. “The parking lot was full, of course (now) they’re gone.”

Two Fire Department engines were on site for about an hour, as the gas leak was being investigated. Officials from Unitil, which provides propane to the Lilac Mall, were also on scene, running their meters along with fire officials, to find the location of the leak.

Johnson said it took about a half-hour to 45 minutes to locate the leak.

Keven Surette, loss prevention manager for Kmart, said he’s glad that a customer that smelled the gas leak had notified mall officials.

“I didn’t even smell anything,” said Surette.

Dr. Joseph Jordan, owner of Jordan Family Eyecare at the Lilac Mall, was in the middle of conducting an eye exam on a patient suspected of having glaucoma, when a coworker notified him that the mall was being evacuated.

Jordan said he could not smell anything at first, until he went back into the building to take his phone and keys, shortly after evacuation. Once he returned to the building, he noticed a strong smell of gas, and saw firefighters walking through the common area of the mall, he said.

Employees and customers were allowed to enter back into the building shortly before 1 p.m. By that time, the building had been ventilated, said Johnson, and no gas levels were detected.

The two leaking air handling units had been shut off after the leaks were found, and a repair company was notified of the problem, said Johnson.